Possible Serial Burglar Strikes Businesses in Columbia Heights, Park View

Several recent burglaries at businesses in Columbia Heights and Park View may be related, say D.C. Police.

On Aug. 9, a man wearing a ski mask threw a rock through a window at arts nonprofit BloomBars (3222 11th Street NW) and allegedly took two donation boxes and change from a swear jar. A week later, a similarly dressed man was filmed smashing a glass door and entering a business on the 3200 block of Georgia Avenue NW.

Now, Colony Club (3118 Georgia Avenue NW) and Meridian Pint (3400 11th St NW), just blocks away, say they may have been hit by the same burglar.

Colony Club co-owners Ben Heller and Max Zuckerman say a masked man broke into their business last Sunday.

“He broke in at 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning,” Heller said. “He used some sort of mallet type hammer to break through our back door, which is a glass door.”

The alleged burglar was filmed by surveillance cameras swiping a handful of beers and a bag of tools.

“There was a moment yesterday where we maybe thought it was the same person [as the BloomBars burglar],” Zuckerman said. But the mask and the grainy footage make it hard to positively identify the man, he adds.

“In terms of what he actually stole, it’s probably no more than a couple hundred dollars,” Heller says. “The main expense for us is having to replace the back door, or at least the glass on the back door.”

Meridian Pint general manager Heather Kendrick says her business was burglarized just this morning.

“At approximately 3:40 in the morning, [the burglar] smashed the window in,” Kendrick says. “He made off with some booze from here. Super infuriating.”

Meridian Pint’s surveillance cameras were rolling as the alleged burglar raided the bar and restaurant.

“To my sleuthing self, the guy looks like to be the same guy as the BloomBars thief,” she adds. “Same time, same mask, same gloves.”

The Metropolitan Police Department’s Third District Commander Jacob Kishter said that although the burglaries are “most likely related,” police are still investigating the possible link.

Surveillance videos courtesy of BloomBars, MPD and Colony Club